How crazy would it have been for Vols (and Dawgs) fans to read that headline 8 weeks ago?

The Vols, in Year 2 of a rebuild and fresh off a 7-6 season, weren’t even on Georgia’s radar preseason. Even now, with Tennessee leading the nation with 5 wins over ranked opponents and 2 top-10 CFP poll wins, the Bulldogs are favored by a fairly considerable score. At the beginning of the season, Tennessee beating Georgia was a misplaced dream, nothing more.

But so was beating Alabama. Dreams can absolutely come true.

Tennessee is playing the best football it has in well over a decade. The Vols’ offense is humming heading into a top-5 matchup with the Bulldogs.

Here are 5 reasons Tennessee will shock Georgia at Sanford Stadium in Week 10.

1. Hendon Hooker is the best quarterback in college football

Football is a game driven by quarterbacks. Tennessee football fans know that all too well.

If your team has a good one, there’s a strong chance it’s pretty good. For a long time, the Vols couldn’t field anybody worth anything under center.

A stroke of fortune had to come Tennessee’s way at some point. This year, it has the best quarterback in the nation.

Hooker has elevated his game from star to legend this season for Vols fans. He beat Alabama, he has led Tennessee to No. 1 in the CFP rankings and an 8-0 record, and he’s likely to win a Heisman Trophy should he continue his pace. If there’s 1 guy you’d want on your sideline Saturday, it’s Hendon Hooker in this offense.

The Bulldogs have a stout quarterback of their own in Stetson Bennett IV, but there’s really no comparing the 2. If Hooker plays lights-out like he did against the Crimson Tide, good luck beating this Tennessee team.

2. Unfortunate injuries mounting for Bulldogs

Injuries to Dan Jackson and now Nolan Smith are not what anyone wants to hear about, but it’s the reality of the situation. Yes, the Bulldogs will still have an elite defense when Tennessee comes to town, but they’ll be down some strong pieces. They are fall from full strength.

Smith is the more concerning of the 2. He has 18 tackles, and perhaps more importantly 3 of the Bulldogs’ 10 sacks. Georgia’s pass rush will still be potent, but it’s missing a strong piece against the best quarterback it will face all season.

The Bulldogs were going to have a tough enough time stopping Tennessee’s offense in the 1st place.

3. A strong run defense presents toughest threat for Dawgs thus far

The misnomer about Tennessee’s defense is that it is … just not good.

A casual fan will tell you the Vols rank lower than No. 100 in total yardage allowed and will get bullied by the Bulldogs.

He’ll also tell you that Tennessee has gotten to where it is solely because of a supersonic offense, a Heisman candidate at quarterback and a Biletnikoff frontrunner at receiver. He’s only partially correct.

Last year’s team also had a very strong offense that could do most of the things this year’s edition could. Perhaps a step down from 2022’s efficiency, but you get the picture. Those Vols finished the year barely above .500.

The difference between 7-6 and 8-0 is Tim Banks’ defense taking a step up, specifically Rodney Garner’s stout defensive line. Tennessee has yet to allow 150 rushing yards in a game, and that’s against good running teams such as Alabama, Florida, Pitt and even Kentucky with Chris Rodriguez Jr. The Vols rank No. 2 in the SEC in rushing yards allowed per game, behind only the Bulldogs.

The Vols have, for the most part, made teams beat them through the air. In fairness, that’s where most of the damage has been done. But let’s remember that Jaylen McCollough missed a few games with an off-the-field incident (that he was cleared of) and starting DB Warren Burrell was lost after the Florida game, and Tennessee has been using a makeshift unit ever since. Yet it did just enough to beat the Crimson Tide and more than enough to dispatch LSU on the road and Kentucky last week.

And I don’t see an L in the win-loss column yet.

Georgia can put 200 yards rushing and 300 yards passing on just about any team it plays, it seems. Bennett, Brock Bowers and Daijun Edwards have that offense humming. But the Bulldogs have yet to meet a run defense like Tennessee’s, and that could be a bit of a wakeup call.

4. The secondary is fresh off its best game in 2 years

Tennessee’s secondary has not played well for the majority of this season, as the above section highlights.

However, it is fresh off its best performance under Josh Heupel last week against Kentucky. The Vols picked off quarterback Will Levis 3 times and limited him to just 98 yards passing.

Tennessee has to build off that Saturday, and there’s no reason to think it won’t. Doneiko Slaughter may be a permanent answer at cornerback, McCollough is back and the rest of the unit is playing as well as it ever has.

If ever there was a time to turn the corner, it’s now.

5. Breaking streaks seems to be a thing for these Vols

Tennessee has lost 5 straight games to Georgia, having not picked up a victory since Butch Jones’ 2016 team.

The Vols had also lost 5 straight to Florida and LSU prior to this year. And I don’t even have to remind you about the 15-year losing streak to Alabama that the Vols tore down and threw into the Tennessee river a few weeks ago.

Heupel and the Vols are tired of these streaks and ready to create a few of their own. To them, Georgia is just next on the list.

Tennessee is on the verge of something incredible as far as rebuilds are concerned. For all intents and purposes, the Vols are 1 broken streak away from reaching Atlanta for the 1st time since 2007.

Funny. That’d be a broken streak, too.